Always Remember...
Never Forget!
2,996 American lives were lost that tragic day.
We need to remember them. Their names. Their faces. Their stories.
Our children and our children's children need to hear so that they understand what it means to be an American and what it means to be a hero. They need to know the meaning of sacrifice.
This page is dedicated to one man who willingly put himself in harm's way on 9-11-01 and paid the ultimate price to save others.
Joseph Patrick Henry
Ladder 21 Manhattan
Joseph Patrick Henry , or Joey to his friends and family, grew up in Brooklyn to a family of firefighters. His grandfather, father, uncle and two brothers were all firefighters. He was one of six children in this very close knit family who would frequently gather for family meals together, especially on Sunday.
Joey was the family clown. He was the one who enjoyed making everyone laugh, usually by making funny faces and crazy body movements. One of his favorite jokes, according to his family, was yelling out the back door what they were having for dinner or some other random thing...sometimes so loudly that his mother would jokingly threaten to call the police.
Joey loved baseball, especially the Yankees. His brothers taught him to hit lefty and he played catcher and infield at Lafayette High School. He continued to play through the summer of 2001 in an adult league. When he was 14, his team won the Gil Hodges League North Atlantic Regional Championship and traveled to Spring, Texas for the league world series. I can imagine that he was bursting with excitement!
Joey went to Staten Island College for two years before joining the Fire Department Emergency Medical Technician Cadet program. He was certified as an EMT and responded to emergencies in the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn for the next 2½ years. He joined the FDNY in October 2000.
His fun-loving personality was a plus at the firehouse. He was always joking and goofing around. I'm sure it lightened the atmosphere on long, slow, boring days when there were no calls...or, on the nights there were, was welcome brevity from the seriousness of the job.
His 18 year old sister, Kathleen, remembers him as being compassionate and sweet. She recalls that "he always had that little boy in him". When she didn't like how her hair looked for a wedding that she was attending, Joey was the first to tell her that she looked beautiful.
Joey's long time girlfriend, Julia Corrales, recalls, "He was usually the first to arrive at a party and the last one to leave. He always said, 'We're young. We should enjoy these days.'"
His family remembers that Joey always wanted to be a firefighter. Two of his brothers are firefighters, along with his grandfather (a battalion chief), his father (a battalion chief) and his uncle (a captain). His father, Edward, seriously injured his back at the World Trade Center on September 11.
As his son left for the 24-hour shift that brought him to the World Trade Center, his father told him, "See you at the big one." Joey had sometimes complained that his company wasn't called to enough fires, so he responded, "Dad, we don't go to many big ones in our house." His father says he said it only as a joke, but "we were both at the big one it seems..."
None of Joey's company was recovered.
Joey was only 25 years old on that tragic day. He exhibited a bravery that few of us could possibly comprehend when he entered the World Trade Center. Little did he know that it was his last day on this earth. I'm positive that all he thought about was saving as many people as he could when he walked in those front doors and entered the stairwell.
While researching for any information I could find about Joseph Henry, I began to feel as if I knew him. I was overcome when reading the entries on the various online memorials. It's overdue for us to start putting faces and life stories to the names and numbers that we see in the statistics. They are more than just victims.
They are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters. Many left children. We need to honor their memories and their sacrifice.
I know I will never be able to watch the 9-11 footage again without thinking of Joey and what his family and friends lost that day.
Tom Spezzano, Joey's coach from the championship team that went to Texas, recently sent Joey's mother, Alice, a note with a picture of him from that year. The note said:
"The team came first when he was a kid, and those thousands of innocent people came first on September 11."
We will never forget!
Other Ladder 21 Tributes:
If you are a family member or friend of Joey, I would love to hear from you!
Please feel free to email me.
Joseph Patrick Henry , or Joey to his friends and family, grew up in Brooklyn to a family of firefighters. His grandfather, father, uncle and two brothers were all firefighters. He was one of six children in this very close knit family who would frequently gather for family meals together, especially on Sunday.
Joey was the family clown. He was the one who enjoyed making everyone laugh, usually by making funny faces and crazy body movements. One of his favorite jokes, according to his family, was yelling out the back door what they were having for dinner or some other random thing...sometimes so loudly that his mother would jokingly threaten to call the police.
Joey loved baseball, especially the Yankees. His brothers taught him to hit lefty and he played catcher and infield at Lafayette High School. He continued to play through the summer of 2001 in an adult league. When he was 14, his team won the Gil Hodges League North Atlantic Regional Championship and traveled to Spring, Texas for the league world series. I can imagine that he was bursting with excitement!
Joey went to Staten Island College for two years before joining the Fire Department Emergency Medical Technician Cadet program. He was certified as an EMT and responded to emergencies in the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn for the next 2½ years. He joined the FDNY in October 2000.
His fun-loving personality was a plus at the firehouse. He was always joking and goofing around. I'm sure it lightened the atmosphere on long, slow, boring days when there were no calls...or, on the nights there were, was welcome brevity from the seriousness of the job.
His 18 year old sister, Kathleen, remembers him as being compassionate and sweet. She recalls that "he always had that little boy in him". When she didn't like how her hair looked for a wedding that she was attending, Joey was the first to tell her that she looked beautiful.
Joey's long time girlfriend, Julia Corrales, recalls, "He was usually the first to arrive at a party and the last one to leave. He always said, 'We're young. We should enjoy these days.'"
His family remembers that Joey always wanted to be a firefighter. Two of his brothers are firefighters, along with his grandfather (a battalion chief), his father (a battalion chief) and his uncle (a captain). His father, Edward, seriously injured his back at the World Trade Center on September 11.
As his son left for the 24-hour shift that brought him to the World Trade Center, his father told him, "See you at the big one." Joey had sometimes complained that his company wasn't called to enough fires, so he responded, "Dad, we don't go to many big ones in our house." His father says he said it only as a joke, but "we were both at the big one it seems..."
None of Joey's company was recovered.
Joey was only 25 years old on that tragic day. He exhibited a bravery that few of us could possibly comprehend when he entered the World Trade Center. Little did he know that it was his last day on this earth. I'm positive that all he thought about was saving as many people as he could when he walked in those front doors and entered the stairwell.
While researching for any information I could find about Joseph Henry, I began to feel as if I knew him. I was overcome when reading the entries on the various online memorials. It's overdue for us to start putting faces and life stories to the names and numbers that we see in the statistics. They are more than just victims.
They are fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters. Many left children. We need to honor their memories and their sacrifice.
I know I will never be able to watch the 9-11 footage again without thinking of Joey and what his family and friends lost that day.
Tom Spezzano, Joey's coach from the championship team that went to Texas, recently sent Joey's mother, Alice, a note with a picture of him from that year. The note said:
"The team came first when he was a kid, and those thousands of innocent people came first on September 11."
We will never forget!
Other Ladder 21 Tributes:
Gerald T. Atwood by LDS Patriot
Gerard Duffy by Ingrid Spangler
Keith Glascoe by Beastarzmom
William Krukowski by DocB
Benjamin Suarez by Amie
If you are a family member or friend of Joey, I would love to hear from you!
Please feel free to email me.